The word superstition comes from the latin word superstitio meaning “standing over” ie. that a superstition is a belief that stands over or outside of the logical standards of a time. A large part of the way we interpret this word today comes down to Christian thinkers, who used the word superstition to categorize small day-to-day rituals of given communities — often rituals linked to historical pagan traditions. In defining these practices as “superstitious” they effectively devalued these kinds of rituals and suppressed the ancestral beliefs of communities they operated within. It had the added effect of removing magic from the grasp of the population, leading to the painful mundanity of our modern world in which very little remains sacred.
One of my favorite cases of indomitable superstition is Saint Guinefort. So the story goes, there was a faithful greyhound named Guinefort in 13th century France who lived with his master, the Lord of the castle. Once, his master went to town and left his firstborn son in the care of his dog. When he returned, he discovered the nursery destroyed and Guinefort with blood on his teeth.
Crazed with grief, believing his favorite hound had killed and eaten his son, the Lord slew Guinefort with his sword. As Guinefort’s blood was spilled on the floor, the Lord discovered the mangled body of an adder that had snuck into the nursery and his firstborn — unharmed, but terribly frightened by his father’s violence. The Lord, ashamed of what he had done, wrapped Guinefort’s body in a sheet and dropped him at the bottom of a well, planting trees around it to form a shrine to his faithful hound. That night, God avenged the innocent dog’s death by bringing down a storm that destroyed the castle.
The community around the well began venerating Saint Guinefort as a protector of infants, traveling to his grove and knotting together branches of his trees as a petition to help their sick children. This practice did not escape the Catholic Church’s notice, however, and they did not much care for the veneration of a dog as a saint. In 1262, Stephen of Bourbon attempted to outlaw the practice and declared it superstition and heresy. He also connected the practice of visiting Saint Guinefort’s wood to the belief in changelings that persisted in the region, linking the veneration of a folk saint to heretical pagan practices. He destroyed Saint Guinefort’s wood and filled in his well in order to prevent the practice from continuing.
Of course, this didn’t work as he intended. The locals replanted the grove, and documented practice of visiting Saint Guinefort persisted into the 1940s, with local knowledge of the practice persisting into the 1970s. You can still visit Guinefort Wood, about 20 miles outside of Lyon, France (and people have! Check out this blog about a visit to Guinefort Wood).
Superstition, as depicted by the myth of Saint Guinefort, becomes less an aspect of irrationality and more an expression of local religious and mythological sentiments. I, myself, intentionally carry out superstitions within my life in order to inject some aspect of magic and wonder into the mundane. Small things, like offering rum to my house goblin, spring and winter cleaning, or carrying a good luck charm can prompt you to notice things you may not otherwise spot in your day to day life.
And it’s always fun to flip the Catholic Church the bird.
from the pen of icarus blake 
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